TB40 Welcomes Miryam Ehrlich Williamson

By Tracy Russo

Continuing with our new additions, this morning I’d like to introduce Miryam Ehrlich Williamson to The Back Forty.

Miryam cut her political teeth as a volunteer in the historic 1951 campaign of Joe Clark and Richardson Dilworth that overturned 90 years of Republican domination in Philadelphia. She worked in both of Adlai Stevenson’s presidential campaigns, while still too young to vote. Later she was an aide to Congressman Michael Harrington (D-Mass.), caucus organizer for Gene McCarthy, director of field operations for George McGovern in the 1972 Massachusetts primary, delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention, and state coordinator for Sen. Fred Harris in the 1976 Massachusetts primary. She left electoral politics to report on politics and public affairs for the Salem (Mass.) Evening News, covering the 1980 Republican National Convention.

She was an organizer and member of the American Federation of Teachers, the Newspaper Guild, and Local 1981 of the UAW, and has been an independent journalist and author since 1983. Miryam raises chickens and vegetables on a micro-farm in a town of 750 people in Western Massachusetts, where she serves on a board working to bring broadband internet and cell phone service to the town.

We are thrilled to add Miryam to the crew, and look forward to the fresh perspective she’ll bring to the table.